Sheet handling device



2, 1966 E. SCHREMPP SHEET HANDLING DEVICE Filed April 13, 1964 INVENTOR.

BYE RNST \SCHREMPI OWXGJ United States Patent 3,263,992 SHEET HANDLING DEVICE Ernst Schrempp, Norwallr, Conn, assignor to Pitney- Bowes, Inc., Stamford, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 13, 19st, Ser. No. ssazis 1 Claim. (Cl. 271--53) This invention relates to an improved sheet handling device for printing machines and the like. More particularly the invention relates to a novel arrangement for producing and controlling the movement of sheettype articles through a business machine.

There are many data processing situations where it is desired to arrest a sheet of paper at a work station and, after a printing, punching or similar operation, to remove or eject the sheet from the work station and feed the same to some downstream station. Conventional mechanisms for performing these functions usually include a plurality of rotating and/ or reciprocating elements which are interconnected and controlled to give the desired sequence of operations. Such conventional mechanisms however are for the most part relatively complex and/ or expensive particularly in those applications where reliable long-lived service is required.

One object of the instant invention is to provide a simple low cost paper handling device that is capable of prolonged efiicient operation.

Another object of the instant invention is to provide a novel paper handling device wherein a sheet may be positively arrested at a work station and subsequently ejected therefrom by an energy drive means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sheet ejecting device whereby a stored energy power system is utilized to operate a sheet ejecting drive means and also to operate a means for operatively coupling the sheet and said drive means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel sheet handling device wherein a sheet arresting stop, a sheet driving element and a coupling means for said sheet and driving element are all operated by a spring powered actuating means.

Another object of the invention is to provide an energy storage drive means for a sheet ejecting device whereby a coil spring is cyclically wound at one end by means of a power drive unit and is synchronously and partially unwound at the other end under the control of a cyclically operated escapment mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel printing machine wherein a flat platen and a sheet ejecting energy storage spring means are both cyclically operated by a common drive motor.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the structural nature of the instant apparatus.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrammatic sketches illustrating the operation of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view showing a portion of the operating linkage for the sheet pressure roll.

A very general description of the instant machine will be given first, and then a more detailed explanation of the structure and operation thereof will be made. Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a printing machine having a printing station 11. A vertically movable fiat plate-n 12 is adapted to apply printing pressures to sheets that are successively delivered to and supported on a printing anvil on deck 13. Each sheet that is fed to the printing station 11 may be uniformly positioned therein by being moved into engagement with a vertically disposed side 'ice wall 14 and a normally elevated longitudinal stop member 15, FIGS. 1 and 2. After the platen 12 has been vertically driven through a cyclic reciprocating printing motion the stop member 15 is lowered and the pressure roll v16 is lowered so as to press the printed sheet into frictional engagement with the driven roll 17 whereupon the printed sheet will be longitudinally ejected from the print station 11 preparatory for the next printing operation.

Considering now the specific linkages involved here platen 12 is pivotally secured to the end of an actuating lever 29 that is pivotally mounted on machine frame 21 by means of a pin 22. The inner end of lever is formed with a bent off ear 23 which overlies a pin 24 secured to the adjacent end of a cam follower arm 25. Arm 25 is pivotally mounted on the shaft 26 and has a cam follower pin or roller 27 secured to the inner end thereof. A suitable spring 28 resiliently biases the lever 20 in a clockwise direction, FIG. 1, so that the platen 12 is normally held in an elevated position and the cam follower pin 27 is biased into engagement with the periphery of a cam 3!). Cam 30 has a circumferential lobe 31 formed thereon and is fixed to a main drive shaft 32 that is driven by means of a motor 33 through a one revolution clutch 34. During operation of the instant machine the motor 33 is adapted to run continuously. The one revolution clutch 34 may be of any suitable type and is here illustrated as a spring clutch having one end 35 of a wrap spring engaged and normally held in a clutch open condition by a bent off ear 37 formed on a control lever 40. Lever 40 which is pivotally mounted on a shaft 41 is provided with a key or finger piece 42 and is biased in clockwise direction by means of a suitable spring 43 to the normal position shown in FIG. 1; said position being determined by engagement of the upper edge of lever 40 with a stop pin 44 secured to the machine frame 21. As will be apparent when the key 42 is momentarily depressed the clutch 34 will become engaged and motor 33 will drive cam 30 through one revolution and such will operate the platen actuating linkage so as to produce a cyclic reciprocating printing movement of the platen 12.

Once the above described printing linkage has operated it is desirable to have the sheet just printed on ejected fro-m the print station 11. A novel paper handling linkage is provided here to rapidly remove the printed sheet, this linkage comprising means for producing three timed and interrelated functions. In the first of these functions the sheet arresting stop member 15 is lowered to permit endwise movement of the printed sheet; secondly the normally elevated pressure roll 16 is lowered into engagement with the printed sheet so as to press the latter into frictional engagement with the driving roller 17; and thirdly the roller 17 is rotatably driven so as to propel the printed sheet endwise away from the print station 11. Due to the timing requirements of the sheet printing and ejecting means and the varying and potentially high instantaneous power requirements it has been found to be very advantageous to interpose an'energy storage means in the said sheet handling linkage 50. By utilizing such an energy storage device a relatively small motor may be used to gradually supply over a full drive cycle all the energy that is later required to quickly operate said sheet handling linkage.

The sheet handling linkage 50 comprises an input shaft 51 having a pulley 52 secured thereto which is adapted to be driven through a belt 53 by a pulley 54 fixed to said main drive shaft 32. A gear 55 secured to the input shaft 51 meshes with a gear 56 which is rotatably mounted by any suitable shaft (not shown) and which has a hub portion having a radial shoulder 57 formed thereon. An elongated energy storing coil spring 60 is provided having one end connected to the gear 56 while the other end thereof is connected to a disc 61 that is formed with a radial shoulder 62. The disc 61 is rotatably fixed to one end of a shaft 63. It will be understood that the respective peripheries adjacent the radial shoulders 57 and 62 are spiral in circumferential contour. An arcuate spring supporting member 64 is mounted between the gear 56 and disc 61, said member having cross-like sectional profile and having pin-like projections formed at each end thereof which respectively seat in correspondingly shaped central recesses formed in the adjacent ends of the shafts supporting the gear 56 and disc 61. The arcuately extending coil spring 60 is adapted to surround and be supported by said member 64 and to be wound up by rotation of gear 56. The spring is held in a wound condition by means of suitable detents or pawls which cooperate with said radial shoulders 57 and 62 respectively formed on said gear 56 and disc 61. Here a pawl 65 is rotatably mounted on pin 66 fixed on the machine frame and is rotatably biased by means of a suitable spring 67 so that the nose 68 of the pawl is yieldably urged into detenting relation with respect to the said radial gear shoulder 57. Thus pawl 65 will permit a spring winding rotation of gear 56 in a clockwise direction, FIG. 1, but will prevent rotation thereof in the opposite direction. In similar fashion an escapement pawl 70 which is pivotally mounted on a stud 71 is formed with a nose 72 that is adapted to engage the radial disc shoulder 62 and thus prevent a clockwise spring unwinding rotation, FIG. 1, of the disc 61. A spring 73 is adapted to normally urge the pawl nose 72 into operative detenting engagement With said shoulder 62. The pawl 70 is adapted to be pivotally displaced so as to permit a one revolution spring unwinding movement of the disc 61 and the adjacent end of spring 60. This spring driven escapement rotation of disc 61 will cause shaft 63 to be driven through one revolution. The control linkage for creating a momentary displacement of pawl 70 comprises a bell crank 74 which is pivotally mounted on the shaft 26, one end of the bell crank having fixed thereto a laterally projecting pin 75 which overlies a bent off ear 76 formed on the adjacent end of the pawl 70. The other end of the bell crank '74 has secured thereto a cam follower pin 77 which is adapted to cooperate with the adjacent periphery of a cam 80 fixed on said main drive shaft 32. The spring 73 not only serves to normally maintain pawl 70 in a detenting condition but also serves to keep the said cam follower pin 77 yieldably biased into engagement with the periphery of said cam 80. Cam 80 is formed with a circumferentially short lobe 81 so that when the cam is rotated through one revolution by the main drive shaft 32 the cam lobe 81 will produce a momentary displacement of the bell crank 74 in a clockwise direction, FIG. 1, which in turn will cause the nose 72 of pawl 70 to lift out of engagement with disc shoulder 62 thereby permitting the disc 61 and associated shaft 63 to be rotatably driven through one revolution by the wound spring 60. While the pawl control cam 80 is rotating so as to control the above described incremental spring unwinding escapement rotation of disc 61 the main shaft 32 will simultaneously cause the gear 56 at the other end of the spring to be driven through one revolution thereby incrementally winding up spring 60. The above described one revolution spring winding and unwinding movements are thus equal and hence the spring once wound to a predetermined extent when the device is assembled will thereafter be incrementally wound and unwound during each cycle in a manner to keep the overall wound condition of the spring at a substantially constant level.

The output shaft 63 that is periodically driven through one revolution working strokes by the above described spring drive means is adapted to actuate the paper handling linkage 50. This linkage operates to produce three machine functions, first to vertically position the paper stop member 15, to vertically position the pressure r011 16 and finally to rotatably drive the sheet advancing rollers 17 and 18. These three functions are effected by the following drive linkages. Shaft 63 has fixed thereon a cam that is formed with a cam lobe 91. Mounted for cooperation with the periphery of cam 90 is a cam follower pin 92 that is secured to one end of av bell crank 93 that is fixedly supported on a shaft 94. The other end of the bell crank is provided with a pin 95 which overlies one end of a lever 96 that is pivotally mounted on a stud shaft 97. The other end of lever 96 is provided with a pin 161) which underlies a bent off ear 101 of a lever 102 that is pivotally supported on a stud shaft 103. The outer end of lever 162 is formed with said upstanding sheet abutment or stop member 15 that is adapted to be vertically moved into and out of the horizontal feed path of the work sheet passing through the machine. The lever 102 is pivotally biased by means of a spring 104 so as to normally retain the stop member 15 in an elevated position and the cam follower pin 92 in peripheral engagement with cam 99.

The second above mentioned function produced by a cyclic rotation of said shaft 63 is the vertical positioning of the pressure roll 16. The linkage to produce this action comprises the shaft 94 on which is pivotally mounted a lever 105 which at its outer end rotatably supports said pressure roll 16. The shaft 94 also has fixed thereto an outer arm 106, FIGS. 1 and 4, the outer end of which is adapted to underlie a pin 107 fixed to an intermediate portion of said lever 105. A spring 110 is adapted to yieldably bias lever 185 downwardly so as to cause pin 107 to engage the upper surface of the arm 106. In the normal condition of the parts the spring 104, which is effectively stronger than spring 110, maintains said pressure roll 16 in its upper inoperative or disengaged FIG. 2 position. When the shaft 63 is rotated through one revolution the cam 90 will cause arm 106 to swing first downwardly, thereby permitting spring 110 to bias roll 16 toward drive roller 17 as illustrated in FIG. 3, and then will permit upward movement of arm 106 under the action of said spring 104 so as to restore the pressure roll 16 to its normal upper position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The third above mentioned function produced by the cyclic rotation of shaft 63 is the rotation of the sheet ejecting drive rollers 17 and 18. Here a gear pulley fixed to shaft 63 drives a gear pulley 121 fixed to a shaft 122 by means of a conventional type toothed belt 123. The roller 18 is fastened to an intermediate portion of shaft 122 while a gear pulley 124 is secured to the outer end thereof. Pulley 124 is rotatably coupled by means of a conventional type toothed belt 125 to a gear pulley 126 secured to a shaft 127 that carries the said drive roller 17. The drive rollers 17 and 18 extend partially through suitable apertures formed in the plate like deck 13, FIGS. 1 and 2. As will be apparent when the shaft 63 is driven through one revolution the drive rollers 17 and 18 will be rotatably driven so as to eject a sheet that has been printed on at the print station 11. A pressure roll 130 similar to the pressure roll 16 is rotatably mounted on the free end of a lever 131. Lever 131 is pivotally mounted on shaft 94 and is biased in a clockwise direction, FIG. 1, by means of a spring 132 so as to continually urge roll 130 toward the drive roller 18 thereby permitting a longitudinal driving action of any sheet located therebetween. As will be apparent the various shafts, studs and the like are, unless otherwise indicated, suitably carried by the machine frame 21.

A description of the general operation of the instant machine will now be made with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. In the normal condition of the apparatus the stop member 15, the platen 12 and the pressure roll 16 are all in their elevated positions as illustrated in FIG. 1. A sheet S, FIG. 2, to be printed on is longitudinally introduced from the left, FIG. 1, into the print station 11; the leading edge of the sheet being advanced between the separated pressure roll 16 and roller 17 so as to abut the normally elevated stop member 15. The key 42 is then momentarily depressed so as to cause the main shaft 32 to be power actuated through one revolution. This motion of shaft 32 will through cam 30 and its associated linkage cause platen 12 to partake of a reciprocating printing stroke. It will be understood that a suitable printing plate or the like (not shown) and inking means (not shown) are provided at the print station so that said printing stroke will produce a printing of the desired indicia on the said sheet. After the printing operation has been completed the printed sheet will be automatically ejected from the print station by the spring powered linkage 50. The one revolution of shaft 32 will cause the input end of the spring 60 to be wound up by one turn through gearing 55, 56, etc., and will also cause the other end of the spring to be unwound by one turn by operation of the escapement pawl 70. The resultant one revolution of shaft 63 will first cause the sheet stop member 15 to be lowered so as to free the printed sheet S for a longitudinal ejection movement. At the same time the pressure roll 16 is lowered and the drive rollers 17 and 18 are rotated. This will cause the printed sheet to be fed to the right, as seen in FIG. 3, into the bite between pressure roll 130 and the driven roller 18. The amount of rotation of rollers 17 and 18 is sufiicient to eject all lengths of sheets that are to be printed on at the printing station 11. The longitudinal ejecting movement thus imparted to the sheet serves to remove the same from the printing station and into a hopper or to another downstream paper handling means.

The completion of the one revolution of the shaft 63 will cause the stop member 15 and the pressure roll 16 to be elevated to their normal FIGURE 1 position preparatory for the execution of the next printing and sheet ejecting cycle of the machine operation.

A device constructed and operated in a manner corresponding to that described above has been found to be very efficient and reliable during extended periods of use.

Since many changes could be made in the embodiment of the invention as particularly described and shown herein without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that this embodiment be considered as exemplary and that the invention not be limited except as warrented by the following claim.

What is claimed is:

In a machine of the class described:

a frame;

supporting means on said frame for supporting a work sheet at a printing station;

a sheet locating stop for determining the operative position of said sheet at said printing station, said locating stop being movable between operative and inoperative positions;

a first spring means for yieldably retaining said sheet locating stop in a normal operative position;

a sheet ejecting roller rotatably mounted on said frame and operatively positioned between said printing station and said sheet locating stop; a lever swingably mounted on said frame; a pressure roll rotatably mounted on said lever whereby 5 said pressure roll is movable between operative and inoperative positions relative to said sheet ejecting roller; a second spring means biasing said pressure roll toward an operative position against said sheet ejecting roller; cam means for normally retaining said pressure roll in an inoperative position against the action of said second spring means whereby the leading edge of said work sheet may, preparatory to a printing operation, be advanced between the pressure roll and said ejecting roller and into engagement with said operativey positioned sheet locating stop; a first drive linkage operative to move said sheet locating stop from its normal operative position to an inoperative position; second drive linkage operative to actuate said cam means so as to permit said second spring means to move said pressure roll into operative position against said positioned work sheet and ejecting roller; a third drive linkage operative to rotate said sheet ejecting roller; cyclically operable drive means operative during each cycle of its operation to actuate said first, second and third drive linkages whereby said sheet locating stop is moved to an inoperative position, said pressure roll is moved to an operative position and said sheet ejecting roller is rotatably driven so that said sheet is thereby driven away from said printing station; said cyclically operable drive means comprising an energy storage spring adapted to be incrementally wound and released during each cycle of operation of said drive means; latch release means operatively connected to the output end of said spring and operable to permit an incremental unwinding of said spring; ratchet means preventing unwinding movement of the other end of said spring; control means for cyclically operating said latch release means; and acuating means for imparting a cyclic winding movement to said other end of said spring.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,023,235 12/1935 Le Count 18537 X 2,701,013 2/1955 Klasing 271-51 X M. HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner.

55 ROBERT B. REEVES, Examiner.

R. A. SCHACHER, Assistant Examiner. 

